Method oe



March 30 1926.

- H. c. KOCH METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR IMPREGNATING FELT AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. '7. 1925' iii Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrics.

HENRY C. KOCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR IMPREGNATING FELT AND THE LIKE.

Application filed January 7, 1925. Serial No. 982.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY C. KOCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of and Apparatus for Impregnating Felt and the like, of which the'following is a specification.

My invention relates to methods of and apparatus for producing roofing and the like, and the object of the invention is to provide means whereby roofing felt may be rapidly and thoroughly impregnated with asphalt or similar substance. Ithas been common to saturate roofing felt by passing it through a bath of liquid asphalt, the strip of dry felt passing alternately over and under guide rollers in such manner that the felt alternately dips into and then emerges from the liquid. This method, however, is slow and more or less imperfect. The liquid is more or less viscous, and the felt does not absorb it rapidly. Consequently it has been necessary to employ a tank having many rollers, for example, a dozen or so, and this not only entails considerable expense for the cost of the apparatus itself but in addition the apparatus occupies a large amount of space. Furthermore it has usually been necessary to run the strip through at a comparatively slow speed in order to give the felt the time necessary to absorb the proper amount of liquid. One of my objects is to" produce an apparatus which will have but ;few rollers and will occupy but small space. Another object is to provide means for definitely forcing the liquid into the body of the felt. Still another object is to provide means for keeping the contents of the tank at approximately uniform temperature and to thereby produce a uniform product. Still another object is to provide means for removing the surplus liquid from the strip as it emerges from the tank and to compress and consolidate the strip as it leaves the machine.

I accomplish my objects by the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a general side elevation of the apparatus, partly in section.

Figure 2 is an end elevation partly in sec tion on the line 22 Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view' showing one of the jetting units.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

In the form of apparatus selected to illustrate theinvention there is'a tank 1 for containing the liquid with which the strip 2 of 50 felt or other fabric is to be impregnated. The liquid is supplied in heated condition through an inlet pipe 4 which descends .to a point near the bottom of the tank and is there connected to a T fitting 6. This T communicates directly with the tank, for example, through a nipple 8, and the remaining branch connects to a riser 9 which leads to the intake of the centrifugal pump 10 mounted in convenient position above the tank. The rotor of this pump is driven by an electric motor 11 or other suitable power device.

A float valve 12 is provided for maintaining the level of the liquid always at the same height.

The dry felt usually comes in the form of a roll 14 which in my machineis mounted on an arborlfi from which it may be fed into the apparatus.

Mounted above the tank are three rollers 17 18, 19. The first is a mere guide for supporting the horizontal run of the strip. The roller 18 is shown as being located approxi mately in the center of the tank while the roller 19' is located near the farther end. From the roller 18 the strip passes down into the tank and around a guide roller 20 whence it passes up and then horizontally away from the roller 19. 9

Mounted within the tank are two jetting. units 22. According to the present design these consistof elongated hollow members of rectangular cross section. They run transversely of the tank and their proximate faces 24 are located opposite to each other and at a slight distance apart. They are so placed that the strip of felt in passing downward from roller 18 to roller 20 will pass between them. The inner or proximate faces of these jetting units are foraminated for directing a multiplicity of fine jets or streams of liquid forcibly against the strip as it passes betwen them. The liquid is supplied to the jetting units by a pipe 26 which is connected to the discharge of the pump 10 and at its lower end is suitably connected to-branches 28 which lead into the top of the unit.

In practice it will be understood that while the asphalt is solid at ordinary room temperatures it is heated to liquid form before the apparatus actuall commences to operate. In some installations of the type heretofore employed the asphalt is stored in kettles located adjacent to the dipping apparatus and the asphalt is heated in these rettles to approximately 400 degrees which renders it liquid. This liquid is then introduced into the dipping tank. In such cases the dipping tank is always emptied by pumpin or draining so that if there is any liq ui left in the tank after the days run it will not solidify in the dipping tank. In other cases the dipping tank itself has burners mounted beneath it so that the contents of the tank may be heated before the felt commencesto pass through. It will be understood that my apparatus may be equipped in an desired similar. manner, these auxiliary evices not being concerned with the essence of the invention. 3 a

In the operation of my apparatus the heated asphalt is supplied through the pipe 4. As this pipe connects with the lower end of the riser 9 and as the riser also communicateswith the liquid in the tank the effect of the pump 10 is to draw liquid partly from the supply pipe 4 and partly from the tank. The result is that the cooler li id of the tank is always being merged and mixed with. the hotterv liquid coming from the source of supply, and this tends to produce a circulation which renders the temperature in the tank uniform. As the liquid 15 forced out of the pump through the down pipe 26 and branches 28 it enters under pressure into the jettin boxes or units 22 and from these the liqui is forced in jets under ressure against both sides of 'the felt strip as it passes between them. The force of these jets of liquid is so reat and there are so many of them that t e liquid is actually forced into the body of the felt thus thoroughly impregnating and saturating the latter. It will be observed that these jets strike the surface of the felt in the presence of a bath of liquid and the resulting effect is much more pronounced and the saturation is much more efficient than if the bath were not prescut. I have found that a machine constructed on this principle will thoroughly saturate the felt in a single dipping as against a multiplicity of dippings as in the previously described old apparatus.

As the felt passes up out of the bath it not only passes over the guide roller 19 but is acted upon by a companion roller 30 which presses upon the strip from above. This roller may be of any desired weight and consequently may exert any desired pressure upon the strip, thus serving to remove any surplus liquid and at the same time solidify and consolidate the fibers of the treated fabric.

In my apparatus it is possible to add seventeen pounds or more of the asphalt to a' strip of paper containing one hundred square feet and weighing usually about 11 pounds. In other words, it is ossible to increase the weight of the fabrlc 130 per cent or more. Furthermore it is possible to speed up the apparatus so that it will turn out the treated felt in 20 to 30 per cent of the time required by the old dipping or gravity method.

From the foregoing it will be evident that A Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to ters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for im regnating a strip of fabric with a liquid, t e apparatus having .a tank for containing the liquid, guides for leading the strip down into and up out of the shank, a jetting unit located within the tank and facing the strip, the surface of the unit facing the strip beinforaminated, a pump for forcing the liquid through the fo ramines and against the strip, and an intake from the pump below the level of the liquid whereby the liquid is circulated by means of the same mechanism which forces the liquid into the strip.

2. Apparatus for impregnating a strip of fabric with a li a tank for containing the liquid, guides for leading the strip down into and up out of the tank, jetting units located on opposite sides of the strip below the level of the liquid inthe tank, the surfaces of said units adjacent to the strip being foraminated, a

secure by Letquid, said apparatus having.

pump for forcing the liquid through the faramines and against both surfaces of the strip, and an intake from the pump below the level of the liquid.

3. Apparatus of the class described including a tank for the liquid, means for leading the strip down into and up out of the bath, jetting units between which the strip passes, said jetting units being within the tank below the level of the liquid, a pump whose discharge is connected with said jetting units, a supply pipe, and an intake for the pump, said mtake being connected both to the supply pipe and to the interior of the tank below the liquid level.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

. HENRY C. KOCH. 

